a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Bits from Randy Rigby Interview, 7/17

Quotes that can be taken out of context, like such as portrayed as marriage advice
What kind of customer service are you giving me that’s going to invite me, and ask me, and, to want to come back?

And we’re looking at and seeing that information, and re–and looking at how we can continue to improve that, so that we can meet their needs. In business and in life, it’s about meeting people’s needs, and if you don’t, they’re gonna go somewhere else to find it.

How does Tyrone Corbin feel about the Jazz going young?
As Ty visited with us, he expressed some concern, from his perspective, and rightfully so.

A coach, when they look at a young team, and what that means to the coach, and potentially, his record, and he didn’t say his record, but what that means to, then, he as a coach, and how he is being viewed, had some legitimate issues that we as a front office and with the Miller family, we needed to also address.

And we addressed those things. We recognized those things, and agreed they were fair issues to talk about. We talked about ’em. Then we made, as a group, a decision, of what we want to do…

We don’t just want to be mediocre. We don’t want, and our fans have told us, that they are willing to, also, be supportive of this. And that they want to move forward, and not just be an average team, that we want to have an opportunity to try to build a core that could go towards a sustainable championship-caliber team for the future.

And so, Ty has been supportive on this, and along with agreeing that this is the right time and the right thing to do. And he is willing to, and his coaching staff to say, we’re willing to also implement and do the things that we can do, as a coaching staff, to help us get there.

And, ’cause there’s a big part that they have to do. There’s a lot of coaching that they’re gonna have to do more than you do with a veteran team. A lot more training and preparation, and that’s why I’m excited to see the help from a Jerry Sloan, the help from a Karl Malone. We’ve also said there’s other tools that we need to implement and add, you have our support to do it.

Will Trey Burke be the starting point guard?
Uh, right now, it’s, he is definitely a strong candidate for it…When we go into camp, we’re gonna invite every one of those, whoever those point guards are, that is gonna be on our roster.

Every one of those guys is gonna have the opportunity of telling us why they should be the point guard, be it John Lucas, be it Trey Burke, you know? Whoever is coming in, we’re going to say, you need to win out the others of being the starting point guard. …

If someone’s gonna beat you out, so be it. We’ve had some years, I remember, Bryon Russell was on the bubble of close to being cut, and at the time Andy Toolson was actually leading, and he got hurt, and Bryon Russell stepped up, and played remarkable, and he ended up having a remarkable career.

** Spencer Checketts: It did help to have a veteran presence in the locker room, to help some of the younger players, whether it was Al, who’s used to losing, so he was able to help players out with that.

When the “inevitable down times” fall on the Jazz next year, who will provide leadership in the locker room?
Well, you know, the, to me, there’s the story of, you know, I think I’ve heard the story of the eagle and how another eagle prepares and keeps moving away, the sticks from the nest, and before long, is literally pushing out that young eaglet out of the nest, to have to finally fly on its own. …

It’s now [the young guys’] chance to start shining, and we’re pushing ’em out on that floor.

And they, and guess what? They’re gonna fly. They’re, they’ll stub their toes maybe a little bit, and they’re gonna have to learn how to have a tougher game, and realize, you know what, I can’t feel sorry for myself, we got a game tomorrow night. Or, and the day after tomorrow, and you can’t look back.

You gotta st–pick up and move forward. And it’s time for these players to do that. And it’s gonna be exciting to see how they respond to the good games, as well as respond to the, some of the challenging games. And they’re being paid to be veteran NBA players. And we have confidence they’re gonna be able to do it.

** Gordon Monson relates that David Locke told him he’s gotten or seen texts and tweets from Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward about how excited they are at the opportunity.

Sixty-second Plug
Last thing I’d also like to say, by the way, is…recently, I had a blowout in my tire. So my daughter had the truck, and dropped it off at another tire dealership [that’s not Randy Rigby’s interview sponsor], and they said, “Oh, this tire’s shot. You better, you’re gonna have to just get a new tire. It’s gonna cost you over $400.”

I said, “We got that tire from [Randy Rigby’s interview sponsor]. Take it into [Randy Rigby’s interview sponsor]. The [Randy Rigby’s interview sponsor] man looked at this thing, and said, “You know what? Yeah, it’s had some impact, but you know what? That tire can be fixed. And we’re, we stand behind our product.”

They fixed the tire, and I’m good to go. We get great sponsors who are, you know what, they have great character as well. So again, I sure appreciate our great sponsorships that we have from people like [Randy Rigby’s interview sponsor]. (1280)

Related

Randy Rigby interviews are simply hilarious. Never, in my entire life, have I heard a sponsorship plug like this.

I also think this is one of the most honest things anyone in the front office has ever said about Ty Corbin. I also believe that this is what Lindsey was talking about when he said that Ty was willing to be unselfish this year — that Ty is concerned about what will happen to his record if they go young, but he’s willing to go along with the plan.

I’ve been very critical of Ty as a coach, but I do hope he manages to help the team to a decent performance this year.

Here’s the question that that part raised for me. Corbin produced a fringe playoff team that was “mediocre” and “average” by having and playing a lot of vets…and as the list of vets that had issues with him grew.

If he really wants to keep his job, wouldn’t he be wanting to try something new since he hasn’t exactly been successful doing things his preferred way? Instead it sounds like if he had his way, he’d be sticking with his tried-but-not-very-true formula.

The Jazz screwed up letting Hornacek go. We’re stuck with a guy whose identifier is “good guy” compared to the guy whose identity is “intelligent/smart”. If Lindsey is smart, he’ll let the season play out and allow Ty to bow out graciously. But seems like this is THE season that Ty will be the hardest to get rid of, everybody in the league perceiving Jazz to semi-tank or full-dive tank mode.

If the Jazz are “good guys”, they’ll extend Ty and that is really hard for this Jazz fan to take. Seriously, Ty doesn’t seem to be as good in the locker room as the media would like us to believe either.

Personally, i was pleasantly surprised when i read about Malone’s work ethic translated into how he prepared himself to train Favors. Really, if Malone’s physical hard work equals to his coaching preparations, I would be in favor of getting Malone to coach the Jazz compared to Ty. Malone has declared the 5-6 years timetable to get himself into coaching prospects.

Let Ty bow out after this season, get Jerry back and Malone as his assistant!!! Do it, Jazz!!

Amen to everything you said. If you look at the list of vets that had run-ins or issues with Ty, which grew long with every season, it becomes quite clear that keeping the locker room together, which he was universally and repeatedly praised for (and often the only thing he was praised for), was not really a strength.